KUALA LUMPUR - The High Court here today dismissed an application by the grandchildren of the late tycoon Lim Goh Tong to expunge portions of a witness statement from lawyer Datuk Low Beng Choo, who drafted their mother's last will in 2022.
In her judgment, Judge Mahazan Mat Taib said applying Section 60 of the Evidence Act 1950 and the governing principles on hearsay, the court finds that the bulk of the impugned evidence does not constitute hearsay in law.
"The plaintiffs' application to expunge portions of the 4th defendant's (Low) witness statements in enclosures 186 and 479 is therefore dismissed. Any specific objection to particular answers or documents may be raised during the course of the trial and will be ruled upon in context," she said.
The court also ordered the plaintiffs to pay RM20,000 in costs to the defendants.
Among the portions of Low's witness statement sought to be expunged by counsel Datuk V. Sithambaram were how certain markings in a 2021 will came about, allegedly on Lim Siew Kim's instructions to reduce the cash bequests to her two daughters.
The bequests were purportedly reduced from RM10 million to RM900,000 for Chan T’shiao Li, 48, and from RM10 million to RM100,000 for Kimberley Chan T’shiao Miin, 45.
Judge Mahazan emphasised that this ruling addresses only the threshold issue of admissibility.
"The court's refusal to exclude the evidence does not amount to any acceptance of its truth, nor does it constitute any finding on the merits; all issues relating to credibility, reliability and probative value remain open for determination at the conclusion of the trial," she said.
The judge said the hearsay rule does not operate to exclude evidence of testamentary intention given by the very solicitor who received those instructions and acted upon them; the admissibility of such evidence is anchored both in section 60 of the Evidence Act 1950 and in the evidential structure of probate litigation.
"Any genuinely objectionable third-party assertion may be addressed specifically and in context. However, the bulk of the impugned evidence ought not to be excluded at this stage," she added.
Today's proceeding was conducted by the following counsel: Datuk V Sithambaram representing T'shiao Li and T'shiao Miin; Rishwant Singh appearing for Malcolm Fernandez as executor and trustee; Ong Kheng Leong representing another executor and trustee, Chan Mei Yee; Goik Kenwayne and Foong Kar Yee representing Siew Kim's son, Marcus Chan Jau Chwen; and S Sivaneindran, who appeared for Low.
On Feb 23, Low testified, confirming that Siew Kim had signed her final will on April 28, 2022.
Siew Kim, the third child of the late tycoon Lim Goh Tong, passed away from cancer in July 2022 at the age of 73. She is survived by three daughters and a son.
In the suit, the plaintiffs seek a declaration that the last will purportedly executed by the deceased on April 24, 2022, as well as the first and second wills purportedly executed on Nov 2, 2021, and April 11, 2022, respectively, are null and void.
The plaintiffs further seek a declaration that their mother died intestate. - BERNAMA